Far Beyond Driven
Reviewed by:
South-of-Heaven, on december 16, 2006 2 of 3 people found this review helpful

Sound: The sound on this album is probably the most evolved sound Pantera had. The fully growling 'chainsaw' guitar, exploding snares and slapping bass drums is at its best. It really makes your ears bleed. But the heaviness can sometimes be too much. Listening to this when it's a hot day or when your annoyed can clog your head and piss you off. "Shedding Skin", "Hard Lines, Sunken Cheeks" have short soft bits in to stop the album sending you totally insane, but it isnt until the Black Sabbath cover "Planet Caravan" right at the end when you can relax and regain sanity. And sometimes here, Dimabag will do anything for a solo, and in songs like "5 Minutes Alone" and "Becoming" they don't even sound good which is saying something since it is the late great Dimebag playing. But overall, very good. // 9

Lyrics: Probably the harshest lyrics in metal with the exception of black/death metal and grindcore. Many songs here can help you release anger when you're super pissed off or mad at someone. "Use My Third Arm" is the best though, since screaming "Kill that f--k to show him up" at 100 miles an hour as loud as you can will release so much stress. But the way they are sung can really ruin the song, like in "Good Friends and a Bottle of Pills" where it goes from talking in a low manner with no correlation to the music to repetively screaming "motherf--ker" over and over again with no actual rhythm is just a shit-heap. It wouldn't even make a mosh pit. But yeah, the lyrics are good. // 9

Overall Impression: Even though the sound can really f--k your head up and sometimes sound boring this is a briliant album. Don't pay attention the the allmusic guide (allmusic.com) who gave it a 2.5 out of 5 simply because it was so heavy. It isn't as good as Vulgar Display of Power because it lacks the oodles of brilliant riffs (well, the riffs here aren't as good anyway) found on Vulgar Display. Probably the most impressive songs are "Use My Third Arm", "Becoming", "Hard Lines, Sunken Cheeks", but easily the best song here is "I'm Broken" which refers back to the style they used on Vulgar Display. "Strength Beyond Strength" best represents the album, going from blisteringly fast to slow (and then a crap solo) and back to fast again. This also happens on "Slaughtered" and "Use My Third Arm", except they don't have crap solos. "Becoming" tries to create a famous drum/guitar rhythm like the one on the Metallica song "One" but kind of fails. Good song, and a cool but wierd riff. "5 Minutes Alone" may not be the longest song here, but it's the most boring. The first four fifths of it are brilliant, but towards the end it makes you think they should have ended it sooner. "I'm Broken" is the best song here, being the most sohisticated, sensible, and basically just the best. "Good Friends and a Bottle of Pills" is by far the worst song Pantera ever made, mainly because it isnt't even a song. It's more of a pointless, overlong skit where Phil Anselmo wants to have a go at some guy from college. Totally sucks donkey balls. "Hard Lines, Sunken Cheeks" starts (decietfully) slow and soft, but crashes into a seven minute monster. Cool lyrics and quite similar to "Regular People (Conciet)" from Vulgar Display. "Slaughtered" (similar to "By Demons Be Driven" from Vulgar Display with the bass drum/open sixth string riffs) is another monster. Probably the most twisted song here. "25 Years" may be longer than "5 Minutes" but it's more enjoyable. it's almost as if Dimabag wanted to make the longest song with the least amount of riffs. "Shedding Skin" is a mix of cool riffs but the vocal sound effects in the chorus can really spoil it. The sound effects elsewhere are good though. "Use My Third Arm" is my second favorite from the whole album. You may never hear anything as furious or head-raping ever again. The best lyrics from the whole album can be found here. "Throes of Rejection" has a good building up but the vocals really ruin it here. Not the best song ever. Finally, "Planet Caravan" which is originally a Black Sabbath song is ear candy and is covered well. But annoyingly it is put on all the Pantera greatest hits albums. You could put it on an anthology disc, since it is a cover, but not a greatest hits. Anyway, Pantera's biggest selling album isn't their best but is still awesome. If it was stolen, even though I have all the songs on my computer, I would still go out and buy it again just have in my collection. Not too bothered if you enjoyed my review or not, I don't know you so I'm not really bothered. But I do hope you metalheads found it helpful. // 10

Far Beyond Driven
Reviewed by:
numb82, on june 27, 2007 2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Sound: When you heard in interviews before the album was released Phil and Dimebag Saying "This Album is Gonna be Harder than "Vulgar'" you say to yourself how is that even possible, but this ablum proves it that you can make music as hard as you want and not lose musicianship in the sound songs like '5 minutes alone' and 'I'm broken' show you their true genius, giving you a very chaotic belnd of every instrument to make a solid whole. // 10

Lyrics: The lyrics are pretty muuch the same as on 'Vulgar display of power' and 'Cowboys from hell', which touches on subjects such as personal struggle, chaos, inflicting pain and drug abuse but with deeper insight into each subject. The main thing that has changed is Phil Anselmo's voice which has gone from a clean melodic style on early releases to a Harsh, aggressive growl that has now been watered down by almost all metal bands today. // 9

Overall Impression: The album is defnintely a landmark in metal with songs like 'Shedding Skin' and 'I'm broken' that have created an amazing form of metal which has made it such a classic album it will never be compared to anything with it's aggressive, anarchtic, angry and amazingly beautiful music which is emulated by many today and pretty badly if may say so. // 9

Far Beyond Driven
Reviewed by:
magneto6, on april 07, 2008 2 of 3 people found this review helpful

Sound: The sound of this album is heavy as f--k but in saying that there are some beautiful solos and some nice melodic moments. I believe that this album showcases the best Pantera can deliver. The production of this album is excellent. The brutality of this album doesn't stop until the great cover of Planet Caravan. The album is the perfect starting point for anyone looking to get into Pantera. // 10

Lyrics: The lyrics on this album are diverse. Almost every topic is covered, from enemies, dead beat fathers, breaking up with your girlfriend, and drug use. Phil's vocal abilities vary on this album with Shedding skin and 5 minutes alone being my top picks. // 9

Overall Impression: This album is the best Pantera album period. It is similar to (and superior to) DevilDriver, Machine Head, and Chimaira's top works. The most impressive songs on this album are Becoming, 5 Minutes Alone, Slaughtered, and Shedding Skin. This album also made me pick up Black Sabbath's Paranoid after hearing their cover of Planet Caravan. I love every song off this album with the exception of Good friends and a bottle of pills. If this album was lost or stolen I'd definitely buy it again and then I'd melt the person who stole it's face off. // 10

Far Beyond Driven
Reviewed by:
Dyer's Eve, on september 13, 2004 1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Sound: This is a one of a kind album. Why? Because it is one of the only cd's to top the charts without any airplay or advertising. Recorded in only six weeks, this was Pantera's heaviest venture to date. And as the leaders of the second wave of thrash they had to pull yet another rabbit out of the hat. Which they did. Obviously. It was a task and a half though. They had to at least match an album that many artists say is the most inspirational album.
We start with 'Strength Beyond Strength' 10 seconds in you can tell that this is gonna make your ears seriously bleed. Then 'Becoming' with it's lightning fast double-kicks and many moments of whammy pedal/bar abuse provide their most original title to date. '5 Minutes Alone' is one of the less impressivwe tracks, but still enough to beat the crap out of most competitors. Then they're bona fide hit 'I'm Broken' which boasts some of the Dime's coolest riffing to date (incidentally, he wrote it the morning after one of his trademark benders.) Then 'Good Friends And A Bottle Of Pills', which really makes no sense to me. 'Slaughtered' brings along some more ass-whipping, the the cool intro to 'Hard Lines, Sunken Cheeks' comes in followed by some wah abuse. quite a lot of the same, until the final track, a cover of the sab's chillout groove 'Planet Caravan' a well executed cover, with phil definitely bringing his own feel to it. A couple of ruts, but not enough to Deny it A. // 10

Lyrics: Phil's vocals are very powerful for this record, on full blast up until the final track. But as usual the dirty lyrics fit the dirty music. Covering stuff such as revenge (Becoming), adultery (good friends) and general rebellion. // 10

Overall Impression: Some would argue this is their best piece of work. With songs like 'I'm Broken' and 'Becoming' raping your ear drums, this is hardly lacklustre. If you like metal, buy it. It really is that simple. But I advise you buy 'Vulgar...' before dealing with this onslaught. // 10

Far Beyond Driven
Reviewed by:
boyan89, on december 13, 2006 1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Sound: The sound on this album is just overwhelmingly astonishing. Dimebag Darell is my favourite and Pantera is my favourite band of all time. Dimebag is one skilled guitarist man whether he does some really soft songs or hardcore ones (which is what Pantera all about), his solos in this album are just amazing and it sucks that he died and I was so pissed off when I heard about that, that I didn't evenc are about what happened to the guy that killed him. Vinnie does an amazing job on his drums and they flow very nicely with the music and his double bass drumming skill is insane. The bass on this album is amazing but why did the best bass line have to be on the worst song on this album (Good Friends and A Bottle Of Pills), but overall the sound on this album was just pure gold. // 10

Lyrics: Phil Anselmo is amazing when it comes down to his songwriting skill, he is one of the best metal writers in history. Most of the songs on this album are about just kicking ass and having no respect for people, and some are about drug addictions, or they can be just plain emotional on some songs. So yah the lyrics were amazing. Oh yah just one more thing if you just got into Pantera don't buy this album because you will literally hate them start off with something less heavier like Cowboys From Hell or Vulgar Display Of Power just to get used to it, but if you are a metalhead buy it the lyrics will not disappoint. // 10

Overall Impression: This album cannot compare to any other bands well because Pantera are the best band ever and I don't know any other band that has a style just like their. I don't have any favourite songs but 11 songs kicked ass but Good Friends And A Bottle of Pills was a track that was honestly unnecesary on this album because it's just these lyrics that don't even make sense and Phil screaming and yelling motherf--ker, that just doesn't make any sense. I love everything about this album except the song that I hate as I mentioned above, when you buy the album plz skip that song. If it were stolen/lost I would defenitely buy this album because it just kicks major ass and Pantera are my fav band of all time. // 10

deth21, I hate to break it to you, but Pantera was born out of the Glam metal scene in the 80's. Look it up somewhere, in one of the many heavy metal documentaries floating around.
However, Phil Anselmo changed all that, and is responsible for the "Take no Shit" attitude of Pantera, which is always fun.
The point is they didn't start playing thrash metal until the late 80's, early 90's, and by that time the big four had already dominated the speed/thrash scene. Pantera is still the best band ever!

Pantera were cock rockers in the 80's so you can't compare them to 80's thrash genre. But when Metallica and Megadeth changed their style to a more commercial sound Pantera did the opposite and went heavier so you could say they flip-flopped. FBD was brutal in your face release that quickly went to Number 1 in the charts (pretty impressive especially for a metal band in the 90's) and I loved it. Looking back and listening to it now I think its one of their weakest. You can see signs of Phil's rock star ego getting out of control, some of the solos are just complete noise(probably rushed)some of the song arrangements could have been better thought out. Deosn't surprise me it was made in 6 weeks. Having said all that I think the metalcore genre owe their entire existence to Pantera specifically to FBD. Maybe even bands like Shitknot and Disturbed too! 6.5 or maybe 7 out 10.

dimedoosh? very creative... and it was spelled right. Aren't you a brilliant child. i especially like how you actually search this up just to post stupid ass horse shit comments.
and becoming doesn't fail!

This is easily the WORST pantera album. Not as in it's not as good as the others, but as in it sucks complete ass. Awful album. Dime's tone sounds different (in a bad way) on this album, and Phil's singing was awful. He sounds like Randy Blithe, which is no surprise to me, as this album sums up ALL of LoG's musical influence. Every other pantera album is GREAT.They have (excluding this and the pre-CFH albums) maybe 2 bad songs in there whole discography. The only song that I found even listenable was "5 minutes alone". I was VERY dissapointed with this album. PURE TRASH.
I forgot to mention that I as a HUGE Pantera fan. (actually more a Phil Anselmo fan) I'd like to say that if you don't like Pantera, you are either a woman, a gay guy , or Randy Blithe.